The newest comic-book version of Spider-Man will be biracial, but the film version is staying white. Sony and Marvel have cast British actor Tom Holland (The Impossible, Wolf Hall, In the Heart of the Sea) as Peter Parker. Holland, 19, is expected to cameo in Marvel’s upcoming “Civil War” storyline before starring in the 2017 standalone film by director Jon Watts. Leaked Sony email documents showed that Marvel’s licensing agreement with Sony requires all onscreen versions of Spider-Man to be white and heterosexual. “I wouldn’t mind, if Peter Parker had originally been black, a Latino, an Indian or anything else,” Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee recently said. “But we originally made him white. I don’t see any reason to change that.”

— Jen Yamato